Esther 3 Outlines

Haman’s
Conspiracy Against the Jews

Esther 3:1. After these
things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and
advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.

YLT 1After these things hath the
king Ahasuerus exalted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and lifteth him up,
and setteth his throne above all the heads who [are] with him,

After these
things,....

After the marriage of
Esther, and the discovery of the conspiracy to take away the king's life, five
years after, as Aben Ezra observe, at least more than four years, for so it
appears from Esther 3:7

did King
Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite;

whom both the Targums make
to descend from Amalek, and to be of the stock or family of Agag, the common
name of the kings of Amalek; and so JosephusF7Ut supra, (Antiqu. l.
11. c. 6.) sect. 5. ; but this is not clear and certain; in the apocryphal
Esther he is said to be a Macedonian; and Sulpitius the historian saysF8Hist.
Sacr. l. 2. p. 78. he was a Persian, which is not improbable; and Agag might be
the name of a family or city in Persia, of which he was; and Aben Ezra
observes, that some say he is the same with Memucan, see Esther 1:14,

and advanced
him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him;

erected a throne for him,
higher than the rest, either of his own princes and nobles, or such as were his
captives, see 2 Kings 25:28. It
was the custom of the kings of Persia, which it is probable was derived from
Cyrus, to advance those to the highest seats they thought best deserved it:
says he to his nobles, let there be seats with you as with me, and let the best
be honoured before others;--and again, let all the best of those present be
honoured with seats above othersF9Xenophon, Cyropaedia, l. 8. c. 41.
.

Esther 3:2. 2 And
all the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate bowed and paid
homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai
would not bow or pay homage.

YLT 2and all servants of the
king, who [are] in the gate of the king, are bowing and doing obeisance to
Haman, for so hath the king commanded for him; and Mordecai doth not bow nor do
obeisance.

And the king's
servants that were in the king's gate,....

Or court, all his
courtiers; for it cannot be thought they were all porters, or such only that

bowed and
reverenced Haman;

gave him divine honours,
as to a deity; for such were given to the kings of PersiaF11Vid.
Salden. Otia Theolog. l. 3. Exercitat. 1. sec. 4, 5. , and might be given to
their favourites, and seems to be the case; for, though Haman might not erect a
statue of himself, or have images painted on his clothes, as the Targum and
Aben Ezra, for the Persians did not allow of statues and imagesF12Laert.
Prooem. ad Vit. Philosoph. p. 5, 6. ; yet he might make himself a god, as
Jarchi, and require divine worship, with leave of the king, which he had, yea,
an order for it:

for the king
had so commanded concerning him;

which shows that it was
not mere civil honour and respect, for that in course would have been given him
as the king's favourite and prime minister by all his servants, without an
express order for it; this, therefore, must be something uncommon and
extraordinary:

but Mordecai
bowed not, nor did him reverence;

which is a further proof
that it was not mere civil honour that was required and given; for that the
Jews did not refuse to give, and that in the most humble and prostrate manner,
and was admitted by them, 1 Samuel 24:81 Kings 1:16, nor
can it be thought that Mordecai would refuse to give it from pride and
sullenness, and thereby risk the king's displeasure, the loss of his office,
and the ruin of his nation; but it was such kind of reverence to a man, and
worship of him, which was contrary to his conscience, and the law of his God.

Esther 3:3. 3 Then
the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate said to Mordecai,
“Why do you transgress the king’s command?”

YLT 3And the servants of the
king, who [are] in the gate of the king, say to Mordecai, `Wherefore [art] thou
transgressing the command of the king?'

Then the king's
servants, which were in the king's gate,....

Observing the behaviour of
Mordecai towards Haman from time to time:

said unto
Mordecai, why transgressest thou the king's commandment?

of giving reverence to
Haman, which they knew he could not be ignorant of.

Esther 3:4. 4 Now
it happened, when they spoke to him daily and he would not listen to them, that
they told it to Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand; for Mordecai
had told them that he was a Jew.

YLT 4And it cometh to pass, in
their speaking unto him, day by day, and he hath not hearkened unto them, that
they declare [it] to Haman, to see whether the words of Mordecai do stand, for
he hath declared to them that he [is] a Jew.

Now it came to
pass, when they spake daily unto him,....

Putting him in mind of his
duty to obey the king's command, suggesting to him the danger he exposed
himself to, pressing him to give the reasons of his conduct:

and he
hearkened not unto them;

regarded not what they
said, and continued disobedient to the king's order, and disrespectful to Haman

that they told
Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand;

they informed Haman that
Mordecai refused to give him reverence as the king had ordered; this they did
to try whether such a conduct would be suffered and bore with, and whether
Mordecai would persevere in it when taken notice of:

for he had told
them that he was a Jew;

which was all the reason
he gave why he would not reverence Haman; and a reason sufficient, because, by
a fundamental law of his religion, he was not to worship mere man, but God
only: and this confirms what has been before observed; for this would have been
no reason for refusing civil respect and honour, but was a strong one for
denying religious worship and reverence; and no wonder that the Jews should
refuse it, when even the Grecians, though Heathens, refused to give the Persian
kings the divine honours they requiredF13Herodot. Polymnia, sive, l.
7. c. 136. Justin e Trogo. l. 6. c. 2. Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 1. 21. ; yea, the
Athenians put Timagoras to death for prostrating himself in such a manner to
DariusF14Plutarch. in Artaxerxe, Valer. Maxim. l. 6. c. 3. ; for the
Persian kings were, as Aristotle saysF15De Mundo, c. 6. , called
Lord and God, and said to hear and see all things.

Esther 3:5. 5 When
Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow or pay him homage, Haman was filled with
wrath.

YLT 5And Haman seeth that
Mordecai is not bowing and doing obeisance to him, and Haman is full of fury,

And when Haman
saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence,....

For, after the information
given him, he observed and watched him, to see whether he bowed and did him
reverence or not:

then was Haman
full of wrath;

exceedingly displeased and
angry; it was such a mortification to him he could not bear.

Esther 3:6. 6 But
he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the
people of Mordecai. Instead, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were
throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.

YLT 6and it is contemptible in
his eyes to put forth a hand on Mordecai by himself, for they have declared to
him the people of Mordecai, and Haman seeketh to destroy all the Jews who [are]
in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus -- the people of Mordecai.

And he thought
scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone,....

That would not be a
sufficient gratification of his revenge; he was too low and mean a person only
to wreak his vengeance on; nothing short of his whole nation would satisfy him:

for they had
showed him the people of Mordecai;

that they were the Jews;
for Mordecai had told the king's servants, that talked with him on the subject,
that he was a Jew, and gave that as a reason why he could not and would not
reverence Haman:

wherefore Haman
sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of
Ahasuerus;

even the people of
Mordecai; and that not merely to be revenged on Mordecai, but because he
plainly saw, that both by his example, and upon the same principle with him; they
would all to a man refuse to give him reverence; and therefore he was resolved
to root them out of the whole empire, that he might not be mortified by them.

Esther 3:7.
7 In the first month, which
is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur
(that is, the lot), before Haman to determine the day and the month,[a] until it
fell on the twelfth month,[b] which is
the month of Adar.

YLT 7In the first month -- it
[is] the month of Nisan -- in the twelfth year of the king Ahasuerus, hath one
caused to fall Pur (that [is] the lot) before Haman, from day to day, and from
month to month, [to] the twelfth, it [is] the month of Adar.

In the first month,
that is the month Nisan,....

Which was the first month
of the sacred year of the Jews, by divine appointment, Exodus 12:2, and
there called Abib, and answers to part of February and part of March; from
hence it is clear this book was written by a Jew, and very probably by
Mordecai:

in the twelfth
year of King Ahasuerus;

four years and near two
months after his marriage of Esther, Esther 2:16,

they cast Pur,
that is, the lot, before Haman;

being a Persian word, it
is explained in Hebrew a lot, the word signifying "steel" in the
Persian language. RelandF16Antiqu. Heb. par. 4. c. 12. sect. 1.
conjectures that this was that sort of lot called "sideromantia". Who
cast this lot is not said; whether Haman himself, or one of his servants:
perhaps a diviner. The latter Targum calls him Shimshai the scribe:

from day today,
and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is the month Adar;

which answers to part of
January and part of February; so that the lot was cast for every month and
every day of the month throughout the year, to find out which was the most
lucky month, and which the most lucky day in that month, to destroy the Jews in
and none could be found till they came to the last month, and the thirteenth
day of that month, Esther 3:13, the
providence of God so overruling the lot, that there might be time enough for
the Jews, through the mediation of Esther to the king, to prevent their
destruction; so in other nations the Heathens had their lucky and unlucky daysF17Vid.
Macrob. Saturnal l. 1. c. 16. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 4. c. 20. .

Esther 3:8.
8 Then Haman said to King
Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people
in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other
people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not
fitting for the king to let them remain.

YLT 8And Haman saith to the king
Ahasuerus, `There is one people scattered and separated among the peoples, in
all provinces of thy kingdom, and their laws [are] diverse from all people, and
the laws of the king they are not doing, and for the king it is not profitable
to suffer them;

And Haman said
unto King Ahasuerus,

Or "had said"F18ויאמר "dixerat enim", Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator, Drusius, so Patrick. , as some choose to render it; nor indeed is it
likely that Haman should cast lots to know when would be a proper time to
destroy the Jews, until he had got leave of the king to do it:

there is a
certain people scattered abroad, and dispersed among the people in all the
provinces of thy kingdom;

for, though many of the
Jews returned to their own land, on the proclamation of Cyrus, yet others
remained, being well settled as to worldly things, and not having that zeal for
God and his worship as became them, and not caring to be at the trouble and
expense of such a journey, and especially those of the ten tribes; now Haman,
through contempt of them, mentions them not by name, only describes them as a
scattered insignificant people:

and their laws
are different from all people;

concerning their diet and
observation of days, and other things; so Empedocles, an Heathen, observesF19Apud
Philostrat. Vit. Apollon. l. 5. c. 11. of the Jews, that they were a separate
people from all others in those things; for he says,"they separated not
only from the Romans, but even from all men; for, having found out an unmixed
way of living, they have nothing common with men, neither table nor libations,
nor prayers, nor sacrifices, but are more separate from us than the Susians or
Bactrians, or the more remote Indians:"

neither keep
they the king's laws;

and, no doubt, he had a
special respect to the non-observance of the king's command to give him reverence;
and in like manner the Jews are represented by Heathen writers, as by TacitusF20Hist.
l. 5. c. 4. , JuvenalF21"Romanas antem soliti", &c.
Satyr. 14. ver. 99. , and others:

therefore it is
not for the king's profit to suffer them;

that is, to dwell in his
dominions; he got nothing by them, and they might be prejudicial to his
subjects, and poison them with their notions; and since they were not obedient
to the laws of the kingdom, it was not fit and equitable that they should be
continued in it.

Esther 3:9.
9 If it pleases the king,
let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten
thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it
into the king’s treasuries.”

YLT 9if to the king [it be]
good, let it be written to destroy them, and ten thousand talents of silver I
weigh into the hands of those doing the work, to bring [it] in unto the
treasuries of the king.'

If it please
the king, let it be written, that they may be destroyed,....

That is, a law made,
signed and sealed, for their destruction, and letters written and sent
everywhere, ordering it to be put in execution:

and I will pay
ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those who have the charge of the
business, to bring it into the king's treasury;

this he proposed, to
prevent any objection that might be made from the loss of tribute paid by this
people to the king; and this was a very large sum for him to pay out of his own
estate, it being near four millions of our money; it is computed by BrerewoodF24De
Pret. & Ponder. Vet. Num. c. 5. at 3,750,000 pounds; for as to what is
suggested by some, that he intended to repay himself out of the spoil of the
Jews, it may be observed, that, according to the king's letter, they that were
employed in destroying the Jews were to have the spoil for a prey or booty to
themselves, Esther 3:13. Now
this sum of money he proposed not to put into the hands of them that should
slay the Jews, but into the hands of the king's receivers of the dues, that
they might lay it up in the king's treasury or exchequer.

Esther 3:10.
10 So the king took his
signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the
Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

YLT 10And the king turneth aside
his signet from off his hand, and giveth it to Haman son of Hammedatha the
Agagite, adversary of the Jews;

And the king
took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman, the son of Hammedatha the
Agagite, the Jews' enemy.

As a token of his
affection for him, and a mark of honour to him; with the PersiansF23Alex.
ab. Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 1. c. 26. & l. 2. c. 19. for a king to give a
ring to anyone was a token and bond of the greatest love and friendship
imaginable; and it may be this was given to Haman, to seal with it the letters
that were or should be written, giving order for the destruction of the Jews.
It seems as if as yet Esther had not acquainted the king who her kindred and
people were; or it can hardly be thought he would have so easily come into such
a scheme, or so highly favoured an enemy of her people.

Esther 3:11. 11 And
the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are given to you, to
do with them as seems good to you.”

YLT 11and the king saith to
Haman, `The silver is given to thee, and the people, to do with it as [it is]
good in thine eyes.'

And the king
said unto Haman, the silver is given unto thee,....

The 10,000 talents of
silver Haman proposed to pay into the treasury were returned to him, or the
king out of his great munificence refused to take them:

the people
also, to do with them as seemeth good unto thee;

that is, the people of the
Jews; he gave him full power to do with them as he thought fit, and who
breathing revenge upon them, would not spare them.

Esther 3:12.
12 Then the king’s scribes
were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and a decree was
written according to all that Haman commanded—to the king’s satraps, to the
governors who were over each province, to the officials of all people,
to every province according to its script, and to every people in their language.
In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s signet
ring.

YLT 12And scribes of the king are
called, on the first month, on the thirteenth day of it, and it is written
according to all that Haman hath commanded, unto lieutenants of the king, and
unto the governors who [are] over province and province, and unto the heads of
people and people, province and province, according to its writing, and people
and people according to its tongue, in the name of the king Ahasuerus it hath
been written and sealed with the signet of the king,

Then were the
king's scribes called, on the thirteenth day of the first month,....

The month Nisan, Esther 3:7, after
Haman had leave and power from the king to destroy the Jews, and his ring given
him in token of it; the king's scribes or secretaries of state were called
together on that day, to write the letters for that purpose:

and there was
written according to all that Haman had commanded;

whatever he would have
done; he had an unlimited power to do what he pleased, and he made use of it,
and directed the scribes what they should write:

unto the king's
lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province;

the deputy governors of
the one hundred and twenty seven provinces, Esther 1:1

and to the
rulers of every people of every province;

it seems there were
different people in every province, which had their rulers; and these were sent
to:

according to
the writing thereof, and to every people after their language;

and letters were written
in the language, and character of the language, each people spoke, that they
might be understood by them:

in the name of
King Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring.

All this Haman took care
to have done so early as the thirteenth of Nisan, though the execution was not
to be until the thirteenth of Adar, eleven months after; partly that there
might be time enough to send the letters everywhere, even to the most distant
parts; and chiefly lest Ahasuerus should change his mind, and be prevailed upon
to revoke his grant; and, it may be, either to keep the Jews in continual
dread, or cause them to flee.

Esther 3:13.
13 And the letters were sent
by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to
annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one
day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the
month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.[c]

YLT 13and letters to be sent by
the hand of the runners unto all provinces of the king, to cut off, to slay,
and to destroy all the Jews, from young even unto old, infant and women, on one
day, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month -- it [is] the month of Adar -- and
their spoil to seize,

And the letters
were sent by post into all the king's provinces,....

Or by the runnersF24בידהרצים "in manu
cursorum", Montanus; so the Tigurine version, Drusius, V. L. Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator. ; by which it seems as if these letters were carried by
running footmen, men swift of foot; or rather they were running horses, on
which men rode post with letters, and which the Persians called Angari; a
scheme invented by Cyrus, for the quick dispatch of letters from place to
place, by fixing horses and men to ride them at a proper distance, to receive
letters one from another, and who rode night and dayF25Xenophon.
Cyropaedia, l. 8. c. 43. , as our mail men do now; and nothing could be
swifter, or done with greater speed; neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor
night, could stop their course, we are toldF26Herodot. Urania, sive,
l. 8. c. 98. : the purport of these letters was:

to destroy, to
kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and
women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is
the month Adar;

see Esther 3:7. The
orders were to destroy, by any means whatsoever, all the Jews, of every age and
sex, all in one day, in all the provinces which are here named, that they might
be cut off with one blow: and to take the spoil of them for a prey; to be their
own booty; which was proposed to engage them in this barbarous work, to
encourage them in it to use the greater severity and dispatch.

Esther 3:14.
14 A copy of the document was
to be issued as law in every province, being published for all people, that
they should be ready for that day.

YLT 14a copy of the writing to be
made law in every province and province is revealed to all the peoples, to be
ready for this day.

The copy of the
writing, for a commandment to be given in every province, was published unto
all people,....

Not only letters were sent
to the governors, but a copy, or the sum of the contents of them, was published
by heralds, or stuck up as with us, in various places, that it might be
publicly known by the common people everywhere:

that they
should be ready against that day;

and fall upon the people
of the Jews, and slay them, and seize on their goods as a prey.

Esther 3:15.
15 The couriers went out,
hastened by the king’s command; and the decree was proclaimed in Shushan the
citadel. So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was
perplexed.

YLT 15The runners have gone
forth, hastened by the word of the king, and the law hath been given in Shushan
the palace, and the king and Haman have sat down to drink, and the city Shushan
is perplexed.

The post went
out, being hastened by the king's command,....

Both to set out and make
as much dispatch as possible:

and the decree
was given in Shushan the palace;

by the king, and with the
advice of his courtiers:

and the king and
Haman sat down to drink;

at a banquet which perhaps
Haman had prepared, in gratitude to the king for what he had granted him, both
being highly delighted with what had been done:

but the city
Shushan was perplexed;

the court was agreed, but
the city was divided, as the former Targum says, with the joy of strange
nations, and the weeping of the people of Israel, there being many Jews in the
city; with whom no doubt there were many in connection, through affinity or
friendship, or commerce, that were concerned for them; or, however, were
shocked at such a barbarous scheme; and which they knew not where it would end,
and how far they themselves might be involved in it, when once a mob had such a
power granted to them.

──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》

New
King James Version (NKJV)

Footnotes:

a.Esther 3:7
Septuagint adds to destroy the people of Mordecai in one day; Vulgate
adds the nation of the Jews should be destroyed.

b.Esther 3:7
Following Masoretic Text and Vulgate; Septuagint reads and the lot fell on
the fourteenth of the month.